Wash-board



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN M. GORHAM, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

WASH-BOARD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 223,338, dated January 6, 1880.

Application filed November 27, 1878.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN M. GORHAM, of Cleveland, in the countyof Ouyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wash-Board Frames; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use it, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,

which form part of this specification.

My invention relates to wash-boards, particularly to the combination, with a wash-boad, of a protector constructed to bend or yield to pressure and to return to position when said pressure is removed. This protector is to shield the person of the Washer from splashing water or suds.

Protectors have been heretofore employed in connection with wash-boards, and they have been of but two general types-one wherein the protector is rigid and rigidly attached to the wash-board frame. A protector thus constructed and attached is not capable of yielding or moving from its position when the body of the operator presses against it; and it is on this account frequently objected to. The second type is when the protector is attached to the wash-board frame by a joint or pivot, and is allowed a swinging movement; but it possesses no elastic or resilient quality or function, and, when moved by pressure, has no power to return again to normal position when said pressure is removed. My invention is designed to overcome the objections and defects presented in these two old types of protectors; and as said invention broadly comprehends any washboard protector constructed to bend or yield to pressure and to return to position when said pressure is removed, it is apparentthat I am not to be confined to any specific form or mere construction of device, inasmuch as a variety of modified mechanical structures may be adopted in embodying my said invention. I will, however, illustrate and describe one or two effective forms of device according to this invention.

In the drawings, Figure 1 illustrates a washboard and its protector made according to my invention. This figure is in longitudinal vertical section, and it represents the protector as laid down upon the face of the board as packed for shipment. Fig. 2 is a similar view of the same device, only the protector is shown as freed and sprung out into operative position. Fig. 3 is a front view of the device as shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 represents a modified form of my device, wherein the protector, instead of being formed from a rigid piece and elastically pivoted to the frame, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, is made from a piece of rubber, spring metal, or equivalent material susceptible of itself yielding and returning to position, and this is rigidly fixed to the wash board frame, as shown. Fig. 5 shows another modified embodiment of my invention, merely illustratin g a different spring-coupler, G, from that shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3.

A is the wash-board frame, which may be of any size, description, or material. B is the rubbin g-surface, which may also be of any character.

O is the protector, and O a spring, which may be either a coupler between the protector and washboard frame, as shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings, or the protector may be pivoted to the frame and the spring 0 'act to push or pull the protector into the position illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3.

The construction of the device shown in Fi 4 I have already sufficiently specified in the preceding explanation of the drawings.

The operation of my device is readily understood. The spring 0, or the elastic character of the thing itself, as shown in Fig. 4, serves always to keep the protector in operative position. (See Figs. 2 and 3.) When the body of the operator presses against it, it yields in such a way as at the same time to press snugly against her person, and also to return at all times to position when said pressure is removed. It thus becomes very efiective as a protector, while at the same time it is not wearing to the person or clothes of the operator.

Another peculiar feature of my wash-board is the flat manner in which it can be packed, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. This is a great convenience and advantage in packing for shipment and moreover, when thus packed, the protector is itself protected from injury to which it would otherwise be exposed. This is accomplished by locating the protector, as

shown in Figs. 1, 2-, and 3 of the drawings, below the crown-piece and between the side pieces of the frame.

What I claim is 1. In combination with a wash-board, a protector constructed substantially as described, so as to yield to pressure and to return to position when said pressure is relieved, substantially as and for the purpose shown.

2. The combination, with a wash-board, of aprotector and a spring, said spring interposed between the wash-board and protector, and constructed to operate in retaining said protector in its open position and to return it to that position when moved therefrom.

3. In combination with a wash-board, a protector located below the crown-piece and between the side pieces of the \vash board frame, and constructed to fold down into or upon said wash-board even with or below the general plane of said wash-board frame, substantially as and for the purpose shown.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. 7

JOHN M. GORHAM.

Witnesses:

J NO. GRoWE L, Jr., W. E. DoNNELLY. 

